"Blast from the Past" #572: June 23, 2009: Re: Hey howdy hey, July 3, 2009: Re: A few more quick questions..., July 4, 200: Re: A few more quick questions..., July 10, 2009: Re: Send props! :), July 22, 2009: Re: Turtles Forever, and July 28, 2009: Turtles Forever

Well, after more than 8 years, it looks like our collaboration on TMNT is drawing to a close.

Damn! I’m not finished with ‘em yet! J

Hey, do you think you might be free next week, Wednesday perhaps? If I can get away from the studio here (we’re racing the clock to make our TMNT / ComicCon deadline), I thought I might come up to pester you about a few (very few) details of the 25th Anniversary Project, but mostly to hang out.

Hope you and the family are doing well (and staying dry!).

Cheers,

Lloyd>>

Lloyd,

Good to hear from you! I don't think I have anything going on next Wednesday (that would be July 1?), at least as far as I know. Come on up!

What kind of paper was the (in)famous original sketch(es) of the first Ninja Turtle made on? Drawing paper? Scrap paper? A napkin?>>

Lloyd,

As I recall, it was just an 8.5 by 11 sheet of white paper.

<< Where did you put your brush when you were putting it down? On a tray, palette or put-down bowl? On a paper towel? In a cup? >>

If I was using my brush (i.e. inking with it), I generally wouldn't put it down until I was finished with it. Then I would rinse it off (to get the ink out of the bristles), very likely in an old mug or cup I would keep next to my chair. I might have had another mug or cup to store the brush(es) when not in use, pointing brush-end up.

<<Same question for ink pens.>>

Same answer, basically.

<< Do you remember what color sweater Kevin might have worn?>>

No... but it was probably something with darker colors, and probably not much int he way of patterns.

<<Would it be cricket to sneak a Frank Miller Daredevil comic somewhere into the shot, or nah?>>

Given that we dedicated the first issue to both Frank Miller and Jack Kirby, I think it would be very cool to have books by BOTH of those guys somewhere in the shot, if legally feasible.

<<These are the burning issues that keep me awake at night, so lemme know.>>

First, I wanted to let you know that we’re putting the finishing touches on the 25th Anniversary DVD project even as I type these words - - very exciting (and exhausting)! And then I rush home, pack, and fly out to San Diego to hand deliver the tape. Whew! We’ll just make it!

To properly courier this rare and valuable animated treasure, I requested an armored attaché case with an unbreakable adamantium chain that I could handcuff to my wrist, but when it was pointed out to me that if anyone really wanted the tape they’d just cut off my hand I realized maybe I just better carry it in my backpack.

Second, tomorrow a DVD of the entire finished spectacle will be overnighted to you. If possible, I suggest you watch it Friday night, right around the time they screen it in San Diego.

Or not. J

At any rate, I really hope you enjoy it.>>

Lloyd,

Although I have been involved in a few "right smack up to the deadline" projects in the past, I don't think any of them compare in complexity to this thing you've been working on. You have my congratulations. (And thanks!) I look forward to watching the finished piece. I hope the fans in SD give you the proper appreciation.

<< Finally, as I suspected, I was laid-off earlier today (my last actual day is Friday – the ComicCon screening will be my last official Turtles’ duty). You and I already talked about all this, and I don’t wanna get all mushy in an e-mail, so just know that I hope we get to work together again sometime.

And stay in touch!>>

It's never a whole lot of fun getting laid off, but at least it didn't come as a complete surprise to you. Cold comfort, that... but I suspect you will land on your feet. The industry needs your talent.

And hey -- I don't mind mushy emails! To reiterate what I said to you when you came up to visit, the experience of working with you over the last seven (eight?) years has been great -- I'd definitely put it in my top five TMNT-related work experiences. You know, it's possible that you and I worked together on the show longer than Kevin and I worked together on the comics.I also hope we can keep in touch and possibly work together on something in the future... maybe something not related to Turtles (at least THESE Turtles).

<< I’ll let you know how things go at ComicCon.>>

I look forward to your report... and if you'd like, I could put it up on my blog.

I don't know if you are still in SD or back home, but I must offer my congratulations for a job well done. From what I have heard so far, the response to the showing of "Turtles Forever" was wildly positive. I hope you got lots of strokes out there! I actually got two calls from Mirage guys -- Eric Talbot and Steve Lavigne -- who called me all the way from SD just to tell me how awesome they thought it was. Now... two questions:

1.) Emily desperately wants a copy she can watch at home (she loved it too, and even told me that she teared up in a couple of spots). Is it okay if I make her a copy? I also suspect my brother Bruce (TMNT fan #1) would love to see it.

2.) I've seen online a bunch of comments about how cool it would be if there could be a east coast showing of "Turtles Forever", hopefully sooner rather than later. Any thoughts on that?

So… it looks like that's the end of my emails between me and Lloyd (and a few other 4kids staff members) regarding the TMNT tv show. Not a bad way to end our run, I think, with "Turtles Forever", which I see as a pretty cool piece of work.

However… this is not quite the end of these "behind the scenes" emails, as -- if you remember back this far -- when I started posting these, I actually started with a post from August 1, 2003 (http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/blast-from-past-296-notes-from.html), which was near the beginning of the development of the show, but there were still some months of work prior to that point… and I think I may have some of those emails, as well. I need to check to see if I successfully saved them from an older computer, and if I did, I will start posting them shortly. -- PL

9 comments:

it's a real shame that fathom cancelled the theater showing of turtles forever. one would think maybe nick could start that up again, putting in place the original cartoon voices of fred wolf as well.

that being said, I think my favorite replacements where Raph, Krang and Shredder, Splinter too considering how little he was on. The voice actors for those rolls did a GREAT job impersonating the originals. Krang was freakishly close..

There were several episodes of the Fred Wolf series where one or more of the characters would be played by a different actor (due to one of the main actors not being available at the time it was recorded). You could say that the 88 Turtles having the wrong voices is just a reference to that.

Hey Pete, it's been absolutely fascinating reading this correspondence. I've had a lot of enjoyment from glimpsing the process of writing and editing the scripts. Thanks again for posting all this cool stuff - and the concept art too! Love it!